Italian sausage polpettina & macaroni bake
By John Torode
Cooking time
Prep: 30 mins Cook: 1 hr, 20 minsSkill level
EasyServings
Serves 8This big dish is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser - you can never make too much of this kind of food
Nutrition and extra info
Additional info
- Freezable
Nutrition
- kcalories
- 881
- protein
- 40g
- carbs
- 77g
- fat
- 47g
- saturates
- 16g
- fibre
- 4g
- sugar
- 13g
- salt
- 1.75g
Ingredients
- 150ml olive oil
- 2 large onions, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 100g fresh breadcrumbs
- 50ml milk
- 500g quality beef mince
- 500g Italian sausages (about 8), meat squeezed from the skins
- good handful chopped parsley
- 200ml red wine
- 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
- 500g pack macaroni
For the white sauce
- 50g butter
- 50g plain flour
- 600ml milk
- 100g grated tasty cheese, such as mature cheddar or Gruyere
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Method
- Make the white sauce. Melt the butter in a medium pan, then stir in the flour. Keeping the heat high, whisk in the milk and bring to the boil, whisking until smooth and thickened. Season with a good pinch of salt and some pepper, then stir in most of the grated cheese and set aside, with the surface covered with cling film to stop if forming a skin.
- Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based casserole or frying pan, then add the onions and garlic and a real good grind of black pepper and salt. Cook slowly and gently until the onions are soft but not coloured. Take half the mix out and mix with the breadcrumbs and milk in a large bowl. Using a slotted spoon, lift the rest of the onions out of the pan, leaving the oil behind, and set aside.
- Mix the mince and sausagemeat, chopped parsley and lots of salt and pepper into the breadcrumbs. Mix really well with your hands until the whole thing becomes pasty rather than lumpy. Shape into the size of ping-pong balls, then heat the pan again and brown the Simply serve with a fresh green salad balls in batches in the leftover onion oil. Remove the final batch, then return the reserved onions to the pan with the wine. Bubble over a high heat, scraping the bottom of the pan, then stir in the tomatoes and meatballs. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 mins. Can be made up to 2 days ahead or frozen.
- Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and boil the macaroni according to pack instructions. Drain well, then mix with the meatball sauce. Tip into the largest ovenproof dish you have. Top with the white sauce (warm it a bit if it is slightly solid), then scatter with the remaining cheese. Bake for 35-40 mins until bubbling and golden.
Recipe from Good Food magazine, September 2009
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Comments, questions and tips
Comments
Not really a dinner party dish, I felt as though the componants didnt gel. The recipe didnt stipulate depth of dish as I used a large dish and the sauce didnt cover enough. I would use a cheese topping with egg so that its more spongy and deeper. The meat balls were easy and I made this dish quiet speedily.
The children loved it and in particular the baby!!!
Cant see me making this again really I would chop up a pack of quality sauages and mix with tom sauce.
I loved this. Was a bit fiddly to make and took quite a while but I was happy to spend a sunday doing this. The result is definately worth it. Didnt add extra herbs, cayenne pepper or chilli flakes but might do that next time just for a change - nothing wrong with it as it is though. The meatballs were beautiful!